The Design Brief (and deeper insights)

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There is no ONE way to approach a design journal. How do I start? Where do I start?

And the answer is, ANYWHERE & ANYHOW. 

But you must know what you are doing and how to do it. This requires a great deal of experience. Your teachers may be available to help. Otherwise, stick to starting from the beginning. Use the resources in this blog to help you along if you require further reading and insights.

It is perfectly possible to start your coursework with a design brief even before you have identified any design need. The N Level Normal (Technical) syllabus D&T coursework is such an example. This explains why the Design Brief post is here at this early stage of the coursework. In case you are wondering why.

This is also applicable to the N(A) and Express coursework.

While there is nothing wrong stating up front a design brief in the beginning of your journey, it is more important that you must know how to make progress. For example how to work back and forth to complete the information that you need, so the journal is complete.

Consultations & Bookings available if you need an help or boost. 

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A Design Brief is a concise statement stating what you intend to do. For D&T it is simply saying to yourself “I want to design and make a …”

This brief but powerful statement should also include primarily who the user(s) is and it’s location, what the solution is going to be, the intent of the solution, and the situation / problem the solution intends to solve. Without getting in too much details. While at the same time allowing a full spectrum of ideation possibilities.

Below is an example of a design brief:

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Design Brief

'Design and make a kitchen paper towel holder which will not take up too much space on the kitchen table and also will not hinder cleaning the kitchen top'.

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Take a step backwards, take a closer look and see what we can discover

In this case, you claim that the kitchen towel storage is taking up too much space.

If you set yourself a task to design a storage so that it 'does not take up too much space', what do you think that implies about the existing storage? - So, the size of the holder is really too big for the table? Really?

5 Whys

Use the 5 'Whys' and very soon you'll find out if the size of the storage is really the problem.

For example:

The kitchen holder is taking up too much space on the kitchen table.

Why the kitchen holder is taking up too much space on the kitchen table?

Because the table is currently cluttered with bottles of spices and for drying kitchen stuffs like pots and pans.

Why are those things on the table taking up space?

Because there are no other proper storage areas to cater for pots and pans. Can't put them on the floor to dry right? And where else can the spices go to? The whole kitchen is full of stuffs!

Why...

It does not need to go beyond the third 'why' to conclude that the size of the kitchen tower holder isn't the problem! Perhaps a new way of organizing stuffs in kitchen needs to be worked out. Or the solution could be as simple as working out redundant stuffs and getting them out of the way to make space!

Can you imagine if the solution ended with a brilliantly more compact kitchen tower holder? That doesn't solve anything. But a wasted effort to design something that isn't really doesn't meet the need of the problem.

Conclusion

As a rule of thumb, whenever you think you have identified design needs or design opportunities, they must automatically prompt you to research to support those claims. 

In case you jumped ahead, or inspirations struck, and you want to make a, say, an ERASER HOLDER because..., remember to take a step back, use the 5 'Whys' to make sure you nail the real need behind it.

So, at the end of the day... RESEARCH. Establish your claims. Prove and justify your claims. Refrain from simply writing some ambiguious design situation, need or brief that is not an outcome of good research.

Reminder

Researches should be well supported with photographs, images and purposeful annotations.

Pictorial Theme Definition to Design Specifications

*Updated in January 2022*

What you'll see in this post are visual examples on 

1. Theme Definition (Optional to read but NOT NEEDED from 2021 D&T Syllabus)
2. Mindmap on the Theme (exploring the theme)
3. Theme Board (Optional to read but do this ONLY IF needed)
4. Tips on how to use a mind map to identify Design Needs/Situations
5. Identifying and drafting Design Needs/Situations 
6. Selecting Design Need / Situation for coursework
7. Design Brief
8. Design Considerations
9. Design Specifications
10. (a) Pictorial Idea Generation and Development (Using SCAMPER) (Click here)
11. (b) Pictorial Idea Generation and Development (Using Attribute Listing / Morphological Method) (Click here).

Use them as a reference and a guide to start or to improve your journal. Make informed choices on your own on what your takeaways should be after looking at the materials in here. Do not copy. 

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Theme Definition 

!!! Do this ONLY if absolutely necessary !!!

For example if you need to understand terms in more detail in order to progress.

Define the theme using either online or physical dictionaries. Use a variety of sources for richer scope of definition.

Including synonyms and antonyms helps. Antonyms give the opposite meanings of the defined word - which is exactly what you need for exploring design opportunities. 

Add photos and images to substantiate some keywords - images also serve to spice up the page - makes understanding the definitions faster at a glance.

Mindmap on the Theme (exploring the theme)

Every stage in the design journal is build up from the previous section. If you understood them theme perfectly, you will have little problem mapping out the theme.

End the mindmap with identified products / objects followed by a brief description of the problems or issues associated with them. 

These 'comments' at the end becomes your identified design need and situations. Which you simply extract and write them formally in your Design Needs and Situations section.

Theme Board 

(Do this ONLY IF needed)

A theme board is a collage of images/products/activities to illustrate what the theme means. There is no need for annotations or descriptions in a theme board. 

Remember that you got to know and understand the theme first before doing this. Use the keywords you discovered about the theme and find related images for the theme board.

You can use the completed theme board to help you in your mind map later (see below). Use the same theme board to help you identify potential problems or issues.

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Tips on how to use a mind map to identify Design Needs/Situations

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Identifying and drafting Design Needs/Situations

Identifying and drafting your Design Needs and Situation section should not be difficult because all the information you need are already in your mind map (see above tips on how to use a mind map to identify design opportunities).

Pick and choose the information you need and rephrase them in a paragraph or two stating clearly the context and the problems / issues. Finish off with a 'wish list' - that will pave your way to writing a design brief (see below).

Selecting Design Need / Situation for coursework + Design Brief

You may use a modified Plus, Minus and Interesting (PMI) method to help select a Design Situation to work on later. You can use any other decision making techniques to do this.

Here the Design Need and Situation is repeated. Fine tune your paragraph if needed.

A design brief is quickly drafted by rephrasing the 'wish list' at the end of the Design Need and Situation paragraph.

Design Considerations

The design Consideration and Limitations (or constraints) is where you list out general points on what should be considered during the Ideaiton stage. Begin a mind map surfacing very general areas like e.g. functionalities - then move on to describe what do you expect in terms of functions.

The further you are from the core (centre of the mind map) the more specific you become. You'll reach a point at the far end where you need to research for data to be included. e.g. if it has to hold some pens, then research how many exactly do you need. 5 pens?

These quantifiable specific data / information you have at the end of the Design Considerations and Limitation mind map (again) automatically becomes a preview of your Design Specifications (see below).

Design Specifications

Remember you read in the previous sections that whatever comes after in your design journal stage, some, if not most of the information should come from the previous section. 

If you did your Design Considerations and Limitations as suggested above, making a list of Design Specifications is a breeze. All the information you need and want is already available and researched. 

Extract your quantifiable and researched data / information and then transform them into Design Specification points. Categories and order your Design Specifications beginning with Functional specifications. A typical design specification begins with 'The product must...'

Note that these points in turn becomes your guide for Ideation (see below).

Pictorial Idea Generation and Development (Using SCAMPER) 2016 (Click here)

Secondary 2: Dining Storage Accessories Project - Research + Design Need and Design Brief

Today's activity will mark the start of your design journey! Isn't that exciting?

Introduction

You will be given a set of Design Need. Also commonly known as Design Situation or Design Opportunities. Basically the Design Need/Situation/Opportunities all do one thing, and that is a short paragraph or two stating the current situation and the problem or a design challenge that is identified.

But you got to write your own Design Brief that follows right after.

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To begin, let's take a look at the classroom demo below and a review of the steps we did in class:

Part 1/2

Steps:

1. You were tasked to work in groups of 4s.
2. Braintorm using a Mindmap to identify Restaurants you know or have been to.
3. Select ONE Restaurant and proceed with another Mindmap to identify holders and storages you may find in the restaurant.
4. Select ONE type of holder or storage.

You will fill in the Restaurant and the type of Holder/Storage in the next activity where you 'copied' the Design Need and Design Brief.

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Part 2/2

Steps:

1. You have already copied the Design Need. You will just need to fill in the 'blank' in the Design Need: 'The restaurant (fill restaurant name) had decided...'.
2. Once you have done that, you will write your own Design Brief following the guide given to you, "Design and make a/an (interesting/fun/innovative/cool/etc.) (what?) to do (what?) for (who) to be placed (where?)'.
3. Note: You do not need to follow the sentence structure rigidly. But try to include all the details.
4. An example of a Design Brief may look like this, 'Design and make a/an (interesting/fun/innovative/cool/etc.) (business card holder) to do (hold business cards) for (restaurant customers) to be placed (on the cashier counter)'.

Note:

1. Add in 'fun', 'cool', 'funky' (whatever) will make your Design Brief look real exciting to work with later. It will also give you a sense of direction on what you will be researching on and how you will sketch your ideas to look like.

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Next, is Focused Research. Find it here.

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Dollar Key Tag Project - Part 1 - Design Situation to Research

The Dollar Key Tag Project Schedule

Schedule for Design Situation writing to Research for Idea Generation

You are to write your own Design Situation based on the (given) Design Brief.

Your design situation should include a description of your observation and your own grocery shopping experience and the use of the shopping cart.

You can:

1) Go to a supermarket and observe how people respond or react when they retrieve the shopping cart, and or
2) Recall your own experience when you need a shopping cart for your shopping in the supermarket.

The example above shows one way you can prepare to write your design situation. In the form of a mind-map you can start noting the issues with retrieving the shopping cart and the experience of having or not having a dollar coin.

Notice I sketched a scene of two persons at the shopping cart holding area and their conversation about having a dollar coin for the cart. A simple sketch like this to illustrate the situation (or context) can be extremely helpful in explaning what is actually going on and makes it so easy to understand. Sketches of a sequence of events may be helpful too.

Alternatively you may wish to take photos of the situation. Note: In a public place, always ask for permission from the store before you take any photos. If you are taking people, it is also polite to seek their permission to do so. Otherwise take photos yourself and your friends in the situation.

Above is an example done in 1N1

Below is an example done in 1N2
Design Considerations and Design Specifications

Note: When you prepare to list your design considerations and limitations, always remember to list areas that is consistent with your design situation and design brief.